Claude Connectors Explained: How to Add a Custom Connector

A Claude connector is a saved connection between Claude and another app or service: once connected, Claude can retrieve your data from that service and take actions in it, normally with the permissions you hold in that service (a shared credential reaches whatever it can access).^[1] If you run a WordPress site, your site can be one of those services, and this guide covers each step, with a worked WordPress example.

What is a Claude connector?

Connectors come in three kinds, and the first is a directory connector, picked from the Connectors Directory, where each connector has a page detailing its use cases, its read or write capabilities, and its availability.

A custom connector is the do-it-yourself kind: you add any remote MCP server by its URL. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard behind those servers; if the acronym is new, this plain-words guide covers it. The third kind lives only in Claude Desktop: a desktop extension, which runs the server on your own computer.

In February 2026, WordPress.com announced a directory connector for its hosted sites, with read-only access to site content and MCP access limited to paid WordPress.com plans.^[5] For a site you host yourself, the route is a custom connector, and that’s what the rest of this guide covers.

Who can add a custom connector?

Custom connectors work on Claude, Cowork, and Claude Desktop, and on every plan: Free, Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise. One limit: Free accounts are limited to one custom connector.

On Team plans, only Owners and Primary Owners add a connector, in Organization settings → Connectors; on Enterprise, a member whose custom role includes managing the organization’s libraries can add one too. With individual OAuth sign-in, members find it under Customize → Connectors (usually labeled Custom) and click Connect to authenticate with their own account.

The reachability rule: who makes the connection

When you add a custom connector, Claude connects to your server from Anthropic’s cloud infrastructure, rather than from your device, and that holds for claude.ai, Claude Desktop, Cowork and the mobile apps.^[2]

The consequence: your server must be reachable over the public internet from Anthropic’s IP ranges. A server on a private network, behind a VPN, or blocked by a firewall won’t connect, even when it opens fine on your own machine. For a private network, allowlist Anthropic’s IP addresses in the firewall; Anthropic’s docs also point to MCP tunnels.

A WordPress site served by the plugin used in the worked example below adds a second rule: by default, its OAuth endpoints refuse plain HTTP from non-local addresses. Over plain HTTP, its OAuth discovery endpoint answers with a 403 and the message “OAuth metadata endpoints require HTTPS.”

Way to connect	Where the connection starts	Can it reach a localhost or private site?
Custom connector in claude.ai, Claude Desktop or Cowork	Anthropic’s cloud	❌ Not localhost; a private site only once Anthropic’s IP ranges can reach it (firewall allowlist or an MCP tunnel)
Claude Code (`claude mcp add`)	Your computer	✅ Yes, Claude Code can reach a site on localhost, for example http://localhost:8094 in the screenshots below

How to add a custom connector, step by step

The exact buttons can differ between Anthropic’s help pages and between organizations.^[3]

Open Customize → Connectors and add a custom connector (look for an Add or Add custom connector button); on Team and Enterprise, an Owner adds it under Organization settings → Connectors instead.
Enter a name and the remote MCP server URL: the HTTPS address where the server accepts MCP requests.
Click Continue, review the authentication settings Claude detected, then choose Authentication: Sign in now (each person signs in through the server’s OAuth flow before using the connector), Sign in when needed (Claude prompts when the server asks), or No sign in.
If you chose an OAuth sign-in option, choose the OAuth client: Use Claude’s published identity (recommended, but the server must support it), Register automatically (dynamic client registration, which works with most servers), or your own OAuth client.
If the server uses an API key instead of OAuth, choose No sign in and add the key under Request headers (in beta and limited to some organizations, so you may not see it); for a bearer token, the value is Bearer followed by the token.
Click Add, click Connect and complete the sign-in if the server uses OAuth, then enable the connector per conversation (+ button in the chat, then Connectors).

Worked example: your WordPress site as a custom connector

The worked example connects Claude Code to a WordPress site running on the same computer; as a custom connector in claude.ai, Claude Desktop or Cowork, the same site needs its public HTTPS address. Easy MCP AI is a free plugin that turns a site into a remote MCP server. The server is PHP running inside your own WordPress, with no hosted relay in between, so the address Claude connects to is your own site’s: https://your-site/wp-json/easy-mcp-ai/v1/mcp. Easy MCP AI is made by Themeisle, the company behind this blog.

Install and activate it from the wordpress.org listing and you land on the plugin’s Dashboard, where a connect card walks through three steps: Choose a client, Add this site, Confirm it works. The install, token, and Claude Desktop walkthrough lives in this earlier guide.

The screenshots show a demo site, Harbor Street Bakery, running locally on WordPress 7.1.2 with Easy MCP AI 2.0.1 and Claude Code 2.1.289, so the address reads http://localhost:8094; a live site shows its own https:// address.

Steps 1 and 2: choose Claude and add the site

Step 1 of the Easy MCP AI connect card: Choose a client, with tiles for Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Cursor, Claude Code and more.

For Claude.ai, step 2 offers a Connect to Claude (1-click) button that opens Claude’s connectors page with your site’s name and URL in the link. One detail dates the card: its typed steps use Anthropic’s older menu naming; the 1-click link already points to the current Customize → Connectors.

Step 2 for Claude.ai: the 1-click connect button, manual OAuth steps and the site's MCP endpoint URL.

An OAuth sign-in passes through an approval page on your own site. Easy MCP AI’s page names the app, says it will act on the site as your WordPress user “and never beyond what that account can do”, and offers three access levels: Read-only (“The AI can view content, settings and the user list. It cannot create, change or delete anything.”), Full access, and Custom, with Approve & Continue and Deny buttons. Start with that Read-only level. If Claude’s Add custom connector dialog asks for an OAuth client, Register automatically uses dynamic client registration, which Easy MCP AI 2.0.1 advertises in its OAuth metadata (registration is on by default).

Step 3: confirm it works

The card shows a copyable check prompt that asks the AI to read the site with the wp_get_site_settings tool and change nothing: copy it into a chat with the connector enabled and check the reply names your site and address. An account without admin rights gets a post count instead.

Step 3 waiting state: the card asks to paste a read-only check prompt into Claude.ai and updates itself on the first call.

The same site in Claude Code

The card offers an OAuth command, labeled RECOMMENDED: OAUTH, and a manual-token alternative; this example uses the token command, with –scope user added so the server is available in every project:

claude mcp add --scope user --transport http wordpress http://localhost:8094/wp-json/easy-mcp-ai/v1/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_TOKEN"

Afterwards, claude mcp list reported the server as Connected; the command uses the same –transport http form with an Authorization header as Claude Code’s documentation.^[4] Sent to Claude Code, the card’s check prompt brought back the site name, Harbor Street Bakery, and its address, with the note “It only reads data, so nothing on the site was changed.” The card (now “Connect another client”, since a credential exists) switched to “Claude Code is connected.” with “First call: wp_get_site_settings”.

The connect card after Claude Code's first call: Claude Code is connected, first call wp_get_site_settings.

What the AI did, and what the site recorded

After the connection check, a second prompt asked Claude Code to read the published posts, match their tone, and rewrite Holiday pre-orders while keeping it a draft. ✍️ Claude Code read the three published posts and the draft, then made a single wp_update_post call through a full-access API token. The rewritten post kept its draft status (“It’s still a draft and hasn’t been published.”), took the names Ana, Tom and Lia from the published Meet the bakers post, and used bracketed placeholders like [LOAF 1] instead of inventing dates or loaf names. The post stayed a draft and WordPress saved a revision, but the draft’s date moved to the save time even though the AI’s summary said the date was unchanged: check the post in WordPress, not only the AI’s reply.

The Holiday pre-orders post kept as a draft after Claude Code rewrote it, with placeholders instead of invented details.

The audit log records every MCP tool call (on by default, with 30-day retention): the screenshot below shows nine rows, every call marked OK. A separate Change history keeps before/after snapshots of changes made through MCP, so you can compare what a write altered.

Easy MCP AI → Activity → Audit log listing nine MCP tool calls from Claude Code, all marked OK.

Keeping the connection safe 🛡️

Anthropic’s checklist: connect only to servers from organizations you trust, review the permissions requested during sign-in, and watch for prompt injection: “Malicious MCP servers may include hidden instructions that try to make Claude perform unintended actions.” Review tool approval requests, click “Allow always” only for a server and tool you trust to run unsupervised, and block individual tools you don’t need under Customize → Connectors.

⚠️ Research can invoke connector tools automatically, without further approval, so disable tools that can take write actions before a research run.

Keep the audit log on, so “what did the AI do” stays answerable for every MCP call in the retention window. For a harder gate, you can make Easy MCP AI ask for your approval before destructive actions such as deletes; the switch is opt-in (off by default) under Easy MCP AI → Settings → Access & safety, and it doesn’t pause edits like the wp_update_post call above unless you add that tool to its Always ask for list.

Changing or removing a connector (and the usual failures)

One rule up front: you can’t change a connector’s authentication settings after adding it. To change them, remove the connector (Customize → Connectors, or Organization settings → Connectors for Team and Enterprise Owners) and add it again; members then reconnect.

The custom connector won’t connect or times out. Anthropic’s cloud makes the connection, so the server needs a public HTTPS address; an Easy MCP AI site also needs HTTPS for its OAuth sign-in; for a local copy, use a client on your own computer, like Claude Code.
The Free plan already has its one custom connector. Remove the old one first.
The connector is added, but Claude doesn’t use it. Connectors are toggled per conversation: open the + menu in the chat, choose Connectors, and switch it on.
Nothing reaches the site after a minute. Run the card’s diagnostics; if another MCP plugin is active on the site, switch it off (clients can get confused by more than one OAuth endpoint).

Wrapping up

In short, a custom connector is your server’s HTTPS URL added on any plan (one on Free), reachable from Anthropic’s cloud; for a WordPress site, start with Read-only access and widen it only when the audit log shows the expected calls. Have you connected Claude to your own WordPress site yet? What would you trust it with first? Let us know in the comments section below!